


Shadows

by The13thBlackCat



Series: One Sky, One Destiny [6]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, I feel like I need more tags but that about covers it, M/M, Multi, Polyamory, and "PS stop beating yourself up", is there a tag for "reminding Riku that he's loved"?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-05
Updated: 2017-03-05
Packaged: 2018-09-28 13:15:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,570
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10102406
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The13thBlackCat/pseuds/The13thBlackCat
Summary: Not all actions are easy to let go, and not all doubts are easy to forget. Riku's not very good at either.At least, not on his own.





	

   Sora wasn’t sure what time it was, but it was still dark when he woke. Yawning, he blinked for a moment, trying to figure out what had roused him—the night was quiet, the only sound coming from the waves and rustling of leaves…and Kairi’s soft breathing, where she was cuddled up next to him with her head on his chest.

 _Kairi. **Just** Kairi._ He shifted a little—Kairi made a mumbly noise, but didn’t wake—to look to his other side, only to find it empty. The empty spot was cool: Riku had moved more than a few minutes ago, at least.

   Sora pulled himself away from Kairi as gently as he could, kissing her forehead softly as he settled her back down into the nest of blankets and pillows they’d made in the treehouse. It was his favorite way to sleep, surrounded by softness and warmth and the two people he loved most in any world. And the fact that one was missing right now was very much ruining it for him.

   Riku hadn’t gone far, as it turned out: Sora barely stepped out onto the walkway that surrounded the treehouse before he saw him, sitting just out of sight from the door by the railing, looking out towards the sea. Sora frowned, tilting his head, and made his way over to Riku without saying anything.

   “Hey,” he ventured finally, sitting down beside him. Riku looked up with a fond—but sad—little smile.

   “Hey. Sorry for waking you.”

   Sora just gave a noncommittal shrug, yawning. “What’s up?”

   Riku didn’t answer immediately, turning his attention back to the dark ocean. He stayed quiet for a few moments, before finally beginning:

   “It’s weird, you know? When we were kids, I used to love the night. I mean, I know _you_ don’t get that…”

   He paused to shoot Sora a little look and Sora smiled briefly. It was true: Sora was by no means a morning person, but he was a creature of the day. Night had always seemed, well… _boring_ to him, for the most part. _Day_ was when things happened. Night time—with all its quiet and stillness—didn’t suit him.

   “...but it was nice,” Riku continued, thoughtful. “The peace and quiet, I mean. It was like an entirely different world, one almost nobody else ventured to.”

   He sighed, closing his eyes for a moment. “But now, it just reminds me of…” He trailed off, going quiet, and Sora frowned. He started to say something, but before he could, someone else spoke up.

   “Why can’t you two talk during normal hours?”

   They both looked up at Kairi’s voice, sleepy and mildly scolding. She yawned, sitting down on Riku’s other side, just as he began, “Kairi, _go back to bed_ —“

   “What? _I_ have to go back to bed, but _Sora_ doesn’t?” She scowled at him, yawned again, then shook her head, running a hand through her hair. “What’s going on?”

   “I was going to tell him to go to bed too,” Riku muttered, defensive, and Sora’s frown deepened. He’d been about to get to what was bothering him so much he couldn’t sleep—Sora _knew_ it—and now he was backpedaling, using any excuse to derail the conversation.

   “Well, _I_ wasn’t going to listen, either,” Sora declared, crossing his arms, “so you may as well tell us. What’s up, Riku?”

   Riku fell silent, his eyes dropping. He was trying very hard not to let his emotions show— _typical Riku_ —but Sora knew him too well for that, and recognized the barely-visible twitch of a frown at the corner of his mouth.

   “…I shouldn’t be here with you two.”

   Sora blinked rapidly, unsure _what_ to even say to such an absurd statement, but Kairi answered before he could pull his thoughts together.

   “What? This is your _home_ , Riku. Where else should you be?” She had ducked her head down, trying to get a better look at his face, and moved her hand to brace herself against his thigh; Riku tensed, just a bit, like he wanted to pull away from her.

   “Not that,” he answered, then, “I mean…that too, but…I shouldn’t be _here_. Like _this._ ” He took a breath, and it shook—just barely, but in the quiet of the night, it was impossible to miss. “I don’t deserve you two. Not after…” He swallowed. “How can you two even call me your _friend_ , after what I’ve done? Much less—“

   “Because you _are_ ,” Sora cut him off, firmly. “You’re our _best friend._ ”

   “I almost _killed_ you!” Riku protested, looking up at Sora. He froze for a moment when their eyes met, then looked away guiltily, letting his hair fall between them. “And if I had…Kairi would have never woken up. It would have been as good as killing _both_ of you.” His breath caught in his throat, strangled and harsh.

   “But you _didn’t,_ ” Kairi answered, shifting her hand from his thigh to his shoulder. “Besides, you weren’t yourself, Riku.”

   “Yes I _was_ ,” he began, his voice tight, but Sora interrupted again.

   “No, you _weren’t._ ” He shifted to put an arm around Riku’s shoulders, pressing his hand to his chest. “Possessed or not, you weren’t _you._ _This_ is you, Riku: right here, with us.” He paused for a moment, and when Riku didn’t say anything, he added, softer, “Besides, I think you’ve made up for it. You’ve saved our lives _way_ more than you’ve threatened them, right?”

   Riku looked up at him. His eyes were still hidden behind his bangs, as always, but they were wet, and Sora’s heart lurched painfully. Riku didn’t cry—Riku didn’t even like to let anyone see him vulnerable, not even them. He’d opened up more since they’d gotten back home, but this…this wasn’t normal for him.

   “You think?” His voice was very soft. Kairi nodded on his other side. She let her hand slip off his shoulder, falling to slide around his waist as she pressed against him, holding his arm to her chest.

   “Yeah, obviously,” she answered, and Sora let out a short little laugh.

   “I wasn’t really keeping count, man, but…yeah, probably.”

   Riku was quiet for a second, looking back out at the ocean. Finally, he said, “I…guess…that’s better…”

   “Here’s the thing, Riku,” Kairi began, gentle, but matter-of-fact. “Even if you _hadn’t_ , _we_ forgave you a long time ago. More importantly, _we love you._ So don’t say you don’t deserve to be here, because _we_ want you here.”

   “And if you weren’t here, we’d just be going to get you,” Sora added, amused, and Riku let out a short laugh at that.

   “Yeah…I guess so.” He was smiling, a little sheepishly. “You two never did know when to quit.”

   “Nope!” Sora was grinning now, sensing that Riku’s dark mood had passed—at least, for the most part. His grin faded a moment later, though, and he added, softer and uncharacteristically serious, “Riku…you keep acting like you need to be forgiven. _We_ already did…maybe you should try forgiving _yourself_?”

   There was a moment of silence, and Riku looked at him, his expression unreadable. Finally, he broke into a little smile, huffing out a quiet breath.

   “…maybe you’re right,” he murmured simply. Before anyone else could say something, though, he shook his head, taking a breath. “Come on, go back to bed. You two are cranky enough in the morning.”

   “Not without you,” Kairi insisted immediately, her hold tightening around his arm, and Sora’s hand fell to his other arm, closing around it.

   “It’s too cold without you,” he added, without missing a beat. Kairi nodded and Riku gave them both a highly skeptical look—it was nearly summer, now, and even the nights couldn’t manage to be so much as _chilly_ anymore, _never mind_ that Sora was practically a human furnace—but didn’t argue.

   “Fine,” he muttered simply—he was smiling, soft, despite doing his best to sound annoyed—and they both broke into grins. Riku let them haul him to his feet, tugging him back to bed.

   Kairi let go of him first, to snuggle back into her spot in the blankets. Sora tightened his hold around Riku’s arm for a moment, thinking, then pulled him down, flopping down beside him—and maneuvering Riku so he was in _his_ former spot, squished into the middle between them. Kairi yawned, scooting over to rest her head on Riku’s chest with a dreamy smile, a moment before Sora cuddled up to his other side, using his shoulder as a pillow. His hand found Kairi’s on Riku’s stomach, his fingers sliding between hers.

   “I love you, Riku,” he murmured, his voice soft.

   Kairi made a quiet, agreeing noise. “I love you too, Riku.”

   Usually, the phrase wasn’t directed at anyone in particular—the three of them loved one another equally, so there was no need to specify—but tonight was different. Tonight, _Riku_ was the one who needed to hear it, more than either of them.

   He didn’t answer at first, adjusting himself until he was comfortable: an arm around each of them—Kairi’s shoulders, Sora’s waist—and the rest of him settled just right in the middle of all the blankets and pillows they’d piled together. He pressed a kiss to the top of Kairi’s head—she giggled, short and soft—and Sora’s cheek—he just smiled—before responding.

   “I love you guys too.”


End file.
